LWR had only one new intake this week, a barred owl found on state property in a neighboring county.

He was concussed on intake and his left eye seemed “squinty” during a cursory exam when he arrived. A full intake exam as soon as he was inside revealed that eye is very cloudy, as you can see in the photo below.  The good news is he’s alert and eating well; now we wait to see if the eye will clear. If not, owls hunt more by hearing than sight, so he may still be releasable. In a couple of days he’ll go into the mini-pen to see how he does with balance, perching, etc.

The red tail was, as indicated last week, euthanized. The broken humerus hadn’t healed at all, after over two months, bless his sweet heart.

And the barred owl that led to my soapbox rant last week died the next morning, before the finders could bring it to LWR.

We attempted a release for the red shoulder; he flew straight to the ground and ran to a fence row, which made it easy to recapture him.  Nothing is broken; he just can’t seem to fly. This would suggest some sort of soft tissue damage like a strained or torn tendon/ligament, so he’s in the main flight now to see if perhaps he just needs more conditioning or additional time for the soft tissue damage to heal. He’s been at LWR plenty long enough for a coracoid fracture to heal, so that can pretty confidently be ruled out. So we just give him more time to see what will happen…

And in really old news, we finally got the necropsy results, courtesy of Bob Sargent, head of DNR’s eagle program, on the adult bald eagle that came in back in June and was sent to UGA for euthanasia: starvation, trauma, with secondary bacterial arthritis (Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae).  In layman’s terms, he was basically DOA and just didn’t know it yet. According to vet Richie Hatcher of Magnolia Grove vet clinic, who saw the bird in June, “any one of those alone will get you for sure.”

No new intakes, no releases…yet. The red shoulder is getting quite vocal about his desire to be gone, eyeing the door every time I walk in to feed him and staring at me urgently. I foresee a release for him by week’s end; he’s ready!

The red tail isn’t looking as promising. After that one very low flight, he’s remained mostly stationary on one perch or another, glaring at me and refusing to eat. The angle of that wing indicates our “long shot” didn’t pan out, either, so his future is likely short, sadly. I’d always rather give the bird that long shot than call it too soon, though; as all my vets are fond of saying, you can always euthanize later but once it’s done, you can’t take it back.

And there may be a barred owl en route this evening; LWR was texted about it late Saturday evening. The texter balked at driving two hours to get the bird to LWR and asked what he could do himself, then, several hours later, said he’d try to get it to LWR this evening.

Folks, by terms of our permits, all rehabbers can do is explain how to secure wildlife and keep it safe until you can get it to us; we cannot give care advice. It’s illegal for non-licensed individuals—and dangerous, when you don’t have the proper safety gear—and could cost us our permits. I’d rather have the public mad at me than lose my permits, y’all, so pardon me if your huffing and puffing doesn’t faze me.

Also, please remember we’re not state or federal employees; we don’t get paid to rehab (aside from a few folks who work at larger centers).  Your wildlife is ONE of many we get calls about. We cannot drive all over the state picking up whatever you have and still properly maintain the wildlife currently under our care AND hold down our paying jobs, as well.

Lemme give you an example: If I get 5 calls in one day (not unusual during raptor baby season)—from Macon, Forsyth, Eatonton, Douglas, and Statesboro, to randomly pick a few towns north and south of LWR—how can I reasonably be expected to drive to all these locations—each at least an hour away—in one day, feed and medicate the birds in my care, and perform the duties of my paying job? Yet each of these callers would have ONE trip to make, not five. THIS is why I and other rehabbers ask callers to bring the wildlife to us. Logistically, it makes more sense.

Anyway…off the soapbox, and we’ll see if the barred actually makes it to LWR this evening…

LWR had two more releases just this morning, as the MIKI and the mature red tail were deemed good to go. I love releases!

The MIKI took off strong and sure; he’s been increasingly restless the past week as his migratory instincts kicked in. By day’s end he should be joining the migrating flocks of MIKIs as they move south toward the Gulf Coast and onward to South America.

The red tail, despite a “sloppy” release (and a blurry video; the morning sun hit the lens just “wrong” to create some serious flare and screw up focus), quickly regained his bearings. I saw where he landed, walked toward him for a post-release photo, and could’ve kicked myself for not having the camera ready to video. He saw me coming, hopped to a higher branch, and then soared right over my head as he went deeper into the woods. It was gorgeous!

Their releases freed the flights, so the red shoulder recovering from near-starvation went into the mini-pen.

And the red tail recovering from a wing fracture went into the main flight. Recall from his late July intake, his humerus was broken and  vets Jim and Peggy Hobby and I agreed it was a “long-shot” fracture, meaning it might not heal for flight, so it was delightful to see him fly, albeit very low to the ground, across the length of the flight. His head and neck feathers look a bit scruffy because he’s been very antsy, banging his head against the top of his box, as he awaited his turn in a flight.

Both these birds will be guests at LWR for at least the remainder of September; the red shoulder needs to gain more weight, and the red tail must prove that he can fly well.

Normally, rehabbers aim at keeping their charges as long as needed to ensure their chances of survival are high. Sometimes that means overwintering one or more rehabs—keeping them through the winter to release the following spring. LWR has done this on numerous occasions. However, there are times we rehabbers HAVE to work against a tight migration deadline. Such is the case currently, with the MIKI.

MIKIs overwinter in South America. We’re approaching the deadline for migration. And LWR has a MIKI that needs to be on his way SOON—like within the next two weeks. He’s been moved to the mini-pen for flight conditioning, in hopes that we can get him ready for his journey ASAP.  He was NOT a happy camper at the move… Y’all make sure your volume isn’t blaring; he’s loud!

Y’all pray this feisty little fellow fully figures out what his wings are for soon, so he can join all the other MIKIs headed to South America for the winter.

The older male red tail is in the main flight and should be good to go within the week. He’s eating and flying well. As you can see, he’s also going through a molt. I’ve always found it neat how they molt symmetrically on their wings, losing the same feathers on each side simultaneously. Birds are amazing!

 The younger red tail is increasingly antsy as his wing heals, and he should be ready to move into the main flight once it’s vacant. He hates the camera; can you tell?

The starvation-thin red shoulder decided free food was a good deal and started eating with gusto, so once he’s got some weight back on him, he’ll be good to go into whichever flight is currently empty, but he’s got a couple of weeks before that happens.

Y’all enjoy your Labor Day tomorrow!